Looking for Nagaland facts? You are at the right place for this article will give you a bit of information about this wonderful land of the Northeastern India. The land of the Nagas is full of surprises and jaw dropping natural beauty that will simply blow your mind and leave you yearning for more and more. So, let us start exploring this wonder state of the Seven Sisters of India and find out what surprises this land holds for you.

Fascinating Nagaland Facts: 1-5

1. Did you know that in Nagaland, 80% people are involved in agriculture. However, none of this people actually love to eat veggies. They are rather big-time meat lovers.

2. You will hear that Nagas eat dog meat. Hold! No need to feel disgusted. We felt disgusted the first time we heard this but think it this way, if you belonged to a culture were dog eating is a normal practice, what would be your stand? While you consider it taboo in your current setting, it is just a cultural act for the Nagas that has been practiced for ages.

3. Not to mention, you will come across many Naga people who have never in their life, tasted dog meat. And yes, please give away the epic hypocrisy that you wear with pride. Supposing that you are a vegetarian, how on earth do you call yourself a vegetarian when you can gulp down milk or eat cheese or butter or ghee (milk derivatives) that come from animals? I will say, mind your own business because different people have different way of living. If eating beef and pork or chicken and rabbit or duck and fish is not a taboo for you, why on earth should someone eating dog be a taboo for you?

4. And mind it, there is no hard and fast rule among Nagas that they need to eat dog meat. In fact, even we were wrong to say that it is a part of Naga culture. Just a few people eating dogs should not give us the freedom to tag a whole culture as dog eaters. It is very much the same as saying that since one or two men in India are rapists which means every man in India is a rapist. Come on folks! Get clarity. Very important! And did you even know that dog meat is really pricy in Nagaland and it is actually eaten as a delicacy and sometimes for medicinal benefits? Talking of medicinal benefits, modern science is yet to verify anything like that.

Disclaimer: We don’t support eating dog meat but people have their own way of life and we don’t want to comment on the same or interfere in the same.

5.Here is a hoax: Don’t be surprised if you suddenly come across an article on Internet which claims that Naga people will feed dogs till they can no longer eat and then grab them by their hind legs and spin them until the dog pukes. That puke is a delicacy among Naga people.

Clarification: Nagas don’t do that! We don’t know from where that concept emerged. That’s a complete hoax. Such articles you find on Internet will not have any kind of image or video proof. They just happen to write the same and demean other cultures. Those authors are jerks (24 carats).

Fascinating Nagaland Facts: 6-10

6. If you are an avid drinker and alcohol is on your menu every day, Nagaland is possibly not the right place for you. It is a dry state. There are few exceptions though. In case you happen to drink any of the following, you can find that in Nagaland:

Whiskey

Rum

India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL)

Beer

Anything else? You are out of luck.

7. If you hold the notion that Nagas are backward people with tribal culture who hunt and eat, it is time you straighten up your spine, read some important resources or at least pull yourself out of your lazy lair and visit Nagaland. This state has a literacy rate of 80.11%. In case you didn’t know, the national average is actually 74.04%. This means that Nagaland has far more literate men and women than rest of India.

8. Nagaland has been crowned as the Falcon Capital of World. Well, you find Amur Falcons here. These birds are not really endemic to Nagaland but the come here annually before they make there way to Southern Africa.

10. Did you know that there are 100 (or possibly more tribes in Nagaland) out of which only 16 (possibly 17) have been officially recognized? Those that are officially recognized are:

Ao

Angami

Phom

Lotha

Kuki

Konyak

Kachari

Chang

Chakhesang

Khiamniungan

Sumi

Sangtam

Rengma

Zeme-Liangmai

Yimchunger

Pochury

Fascinating Nagaland Facts: 11-15

11. Every tribe is unique even in terms of the language they speak. This means that these tribal languages are unintelligible. This lead to the formation of what is known as Nagamese Creole – a common language meant for communication. This Nagamese Creole has been created with Assamese as the base.

12. Despite the fact that Nagamese Creole is actually there for communication, the language that is meant for education and is recognized as official state language is none other than English (a language with no original base of its own).

13. Nagaland goes by the name ‘Land of Festivals’. The state earned that moniker because every tribe in the state has its very own festival that is celebrated in a grand way.

14. Because there are too many festivals, the state of Nagaland actually introduced what is known as Hornbill Festival. This festival was introduced in year 2000. What’s the specialty of this festival? It is just an umbrella festival where every tribe comes and participates and showcase their own culture. Did you know that the Hornbill Festival is one of the primary reasons why tourism in Nagaland has flourished?

15. This Hornbill Festival is usually held in December every year. Usually the first 10 days of the month are selected for the festival.

Fascinating Nagaland Facts: 16-20

16. When you are in the state of Nagaland, make sure that you carry ILP or the Inner Line Permit. The Naga Government issues this to every tourist. You just cannot roam around in Nagaland without that permit. Once you are entering Nagaland from any of the interstate borders, you need to show this permit at check gates else, you will not be allowed to go in. The only city in Nagaland where this ILP is not required is the city of Dimapur, which is Nagaland’s porthead and largest city.

17. The most widely spoken tribal language in the state is Ao language of the Ao tribe. Of all (recognized) languages spoken in Nagaland, Ao has the market share of 12.9%.

18. If there is any state in India which actually registered a decline in population then it is Nagaland. In 2001-2011 census, Nagaland showed population decline. However, there is an interesting twist. Scholars actually say that of all censuses in the past, the one of 2001-2011 was most accurate while the previous ones gave incorrect counts of Naga population. This means that Naga population didn’t decline. It was only incorrectly bloated in the previous censuses.

19. Nagas have deep-rooted superstition in their culture despite the fact that literacy rate is very high among them. For instance, a girl’s match is found and they are destined to tie knots but, if within three days of fixing the match, the girl gets some dream which is inauspicious, that marriage will never happen and the match will simply be called off.

20. Yet another example of superstition is found in Angami tribe. If a boy in this tribe likes a girl and wants to marry, the boy needs to first spill the beans to his father. The father of that boy will then approach the father of the girl and see if he is ready. If yes, the father of boy will catch a fowl and strangle it to death. Once the bird is dead, he will take a look at the legs of the fowl. Depending on how the legs of the fowl are crossed, it will be considered as an auspicious or inauspicious sign. If auspicious, the girl will then be informed about the proposal. However, the girl has complete freedom of decline the proposal.

We are not quite done here with Nagaland facts. There are many more. We will try to cover the same in a different article. Wait for it.

6 comments

Danny RamosAugust 1, 2017 - 1:02 pm

To the Author,

When you say FACTS, you just state the facts. Personal comments should never be included in your article since it may create unnecessary argument or debate among your readers. Just keep to the facts. I like your topics (sans the comments) and they give me additional information.

Krishnendu, can you tell us what makes this unprofessional and annoying? And, instead of just shooting such comments, it will be far more professional on your end to actually tell what went wrong and how it can be improved. Perhaps a complete example will work great!

We are open to accepting suggestions but if you are unable to give a proper suggestion, stop behaving that you are above everyone. People like you think that you know everything. People who actually know things use humiliation in their approach when it comes to saying someone that they are doing things wrong. Looks to us like you think you are the most professional and organized person in this world. Clearly, your comment proves otherwise. It appears that you like to show others small to hide your own absence of knowledge.